<p>The Assam government said Tuesday it will deploy 4,000 commandos to guard its border with Mizoram after five police officers were killed in a gunbattle between the feuding neighbours.</p>.<p>More than 60 others were injured in the rare showdown Monday on Assam's border with Mizoram. The two states have been wrangling over their border for decades.</p>.<p>Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters at Silchar, near where the battle was fought, that the "new commando battalion" would be deployed on the border.</p>.<p>Tensions had been building between the two states since last month when Mizoram alleged that Assam had encroached on its territory.</p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/heres-why-the-assam-mizoram-border-issue-flared-up-again-1013345.html">Here's why the Assam-Mizoram border issue flared up again</a></strong></p>.<p>Assam in turn accused Mizoram villagers of encroaching instead on reserve forest land.</p>.<p>Home Minister Amit Shah has sought to defuse the row but a solution to the long-standing dispute did not appear imminent.</p>.<p>Sarma, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said his government will file a petition in the Supreme Court to ensure "not an inch of reserve forest is encroached upon".</p>.<p>Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has accused Assam police of firing the first shots on Monday.</p>.<p>Zoramthanga heads the Mizo National Front, an ally of the national ruling alliance led by BJP.</p>.<p>He said Assam police had forcibly taken over a border post and assaulted unarmed civilians.</p>.<p>The ministers have staged rival social media campaigns, sharing videos showing civilians armed with batons clashing with police and other violence.</p>.<p>Mizoram was a part of Assam until 1972 when it was split up. It became a state in its own right in 1986.</p>.<p>Mizoram says the area claimed by Assam has been used by its people for more than 100 years, but the Assamese insist that a large chunk of their land has been seized.</p>.<p>The far-flung and resource-rich northeastern region has been a hotbed of ethnic tensions since India's independence in 1947.</p>.<p>Borders between the seven states in the region are not clearly demarcated and there are regular disputes over land and assets. However, deadly confrontations such as Monday's are rare.</p>
<p>The Assam government said Tuesday it will deploy 4,000 commandos to guard its border with Mizoram after five police officers were killed in a gunbattle between the feuding neighbours.</p>.<p>More than 60 others were injured in the rare showdown Monday on Assam's border with Mizoram. The two states have been wrangling over their border for decades.</p>.<p>Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters at Silchar, near where the battle was fought, that the "new commando battalion" would be deployed on the border.</p>.<p>Tensions had been building between the two states since last month when Mizoram alleged that Assam had encroached on its territory.</p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/heres-why-the-assam-mizoram-border-issue-flared-up-again-1013345.html">Here's why the Assam-Mizoram border issue flared up again</a></strong></p>.<p>Assam in turn accused Mizoram villagers of encroaching instead on reserve forest land.</p>.<p>Home Minister Amit Shah has sought to defuse the row but a solution to the long-standing dispute did not appear imminent.</p>.<p>Sarma, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said his government will file a petition in the Supreme Court to ensure "not an inch of reserve forest is encroached upon".</p>.<p>Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has accused Assam police of firing the first shots on Monday.</p>.<p>Zoramthanga heads the Mizo National Front, an ally of the national ruling alliance led by BJP.</p>.<p>He said Assam police had forcibly taken over a border post and assaulted unarmed civilians.</p>.<p>The ministers have staged rival social media campaigns, sharing videos showing civilians armed with batons clashing with police and other violence.</p>.<p>Mizoram was a part of Assam until 1972 when it was split up. It became a state in its own right in 1986.</p>.<p>Mizoram says the area claimed by Assam has been used by its people for more than 100 years, but the Assamese insist that a large chunk of their land has been seized.</p>.<p>The far-flung and resource-rich northeastern region has been a hotbed of ethnic tensions since India's independence in 1947.</p>.<p>Borders between the seven states in the region are not clearly demarcated and there are regular disputes over land and assets. However, deadly confrontations such as Monday's are rare.</p>